THE cornflour roti, yellow as buttercups, and the puree of mustard greens, vibrantly emerald, look very different from the dishes you’d usually be served at a curry house.

They taste different, too.

The roti has a delicate sweetness about it while the mustard greens have the earthy, cut grass flavour of foliage, albeit foliage enriched with yoghurt and butter.

Eaten together – a dollop of puree atop the bread – they are comforting and very enjoyable.

Other dishes are lined up – tangy chickpeas, meltingly tender lamb sassy with tomato, light onion fritters spiked with fenugreek, dumplings in a sunshine coloured, soothing sauce.

All have a hearty nature and, though not markedly chilli hot, have a spicy whack to them.

These dishes, together with others, will form the basis of a Punjabi food festival being held later this month at the celebrated Birmingham restaurant Lasan, better known, perhaps, for its light, modern and classy versions of Indian classics.

Jabbar Khan and Aktar Islam, the driving forces behind Lasan, are keen to point out that there is huge variety to Indian food.

Chef Aktar explains: “There are different geographic styles, of course. But there are differences from village to village.

“If a river runs through a village, for instance, will determine whether the local dishes include fish.”

Jabbar adds: “The local environment will provide local delicacies.”

The local environment also helps determine the style of cookery.

Aktar says: “The Punjab is an agricultural area and the people are hard working. They also tend to be of larger stature.

“The food is earthy, not at all extravagant. It has to sustain them as they work.

“It is also known as the ‘Granary State of India’ so there are lots of breads.”

Some of those breads lie alongside the dishes we sample and are an ideal foil for the full-on flavours.

Punjabi food, says Aktar, doesn’t have the extravagant amounts of chilli used in, say, southern India cuisine, but relies heavy on whole, sweeter spices.

Jabbar is in no doubt that more Indian chefs should embrace such traditional, homely styles rather than trying to innovate for the sake of novelty.

Too many simply add unusual ingredients such as fruit to dishes instead of taking another look at the sort of food people from the sub-continent might eat at home.

It’s a lesson worth learning for the lunch I share with Jabbar and Aktar is a treat.

Other Brummies will get a chance to taste some of those dishes at the Punjabi Food Festival on Sunday, October 26, from 12.30-3.30pm and 6-9pm. The buffet costs £20 per person.

* Lasan, 3-4 Dakota Buildings, James Street, Hockley. Phone 0121 212 3664, email events@lasan.co.uk or visit www.lasan.co.uk